


And I Will Hand You My Heart

by Kimmy



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Inspired by Fanart, M/M, Science Boyfriends, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 22:10:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16752388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimmy/pseuds/Kimmy
Summary: Five times Tony didn't like to be handed things and one time he had to tell Bruce he's the exception.





	And I Will Hand You My Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [enigmaticblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/enigmaticblue/gifts), [agentsimmons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentsimmons/gifts).



> One of the parts has been inspired by super cute art by ecokitty! [Check it out on deviantart.](https://www.deviantart.com/ecokitty/art/Valentine-s-Day-Bruce-and-Tony-Cards-353624312)  
> Not beta'd. This work is dedicated to two amazing authors who aren't aware of it, but are directly responsible for my descent into this fandom. Thank you.

  1. ****Coffee****



The first time Bruce did it, Tony didn’t notice.

He didn’t notice for a while. Bruce would just leave the mug of steaming hot coffee next to Tony when they worked together in the lab, while he sipped his own tea, and none of them would mention it, simply moving smoothly to the next theory or calculation.

So Tony didn’t exactly notice, even if subconsciously he was grateful for the coffee supply.

But then one day Jane and Thor were in the lab with them, all four having a day of geeking out over Asgardian science, and Bruce went to make coffee and tea.

And that’s when Tony noticed.

The way Bruce held the tray carefully but perfectly balanced in one hand as he handed Jane her cup, and then Thor his mug (the biggest one they owned), and then put Tony’s cup next to him instead, down on the worktable.

And as Bruce put the tray away, sipping his own tea, Tony stared at him, realization sinking in.

And he couldn’t help a small smile that tugged on his lips when he realized that __somehow__  Bruce __knew__. He knew and he cared.

  1. ****Wedding invite****



It comes rather unexpected. Natasha just hands him an envelope during breakfast and he stares at it. He __told__ her. Granted, she was Natalie Rushman back then, and they were both pretending to be drunk at some party, but he __told__ her.

He just keeps staring at the envelope, not taking it, when Bruce enters the kitchen and saves him, sweeping the envelope out of her hands.

„Morning. What is this?”

She just raises an eyebrow but takes it in stride, smiling easily. Maybe she remembers. Maybe she realizes. Or maybe she’s just being Natasha.

„Well, that’s actually fitting.” She says to Bruce. „Since it’s for you too.”

Now Tony raises an eyebrow, looking over at his science bro who managed to already open the envelope and was frowning at it.

„Brucie-bear?”

„It’s a wedding invite. I mean, congratulations, but it’s a wedding invite. Why is there only one for me and Tony?”

Tony’s eyes widen and he focuses on an entirely different part of this statement. The part normal people focus on, for once.

„Wedding invite! Nat! You’re finally going to make Clint an honest man!”

And to both their surprise, Natasha, the infamous Black Widow, the woman they saw kill a man with her pinkie finger and win a staring contest with Nicolas Fury... She blushes, her eyes sparkling with joy as her demeanour relaxes, tension Tony didn’t even notice leaving her as she sits at the counter opposite him.

„It seemed like it’s time. It’s... It’s the first time we actually have a chance at this sort of life, something other than always being spies. We’re really grateful to you, Tony. When you opened your home to us, gave us the place on The Avengers team as a separate thing from SHIELD, you sort of showed us we have a chance we thought we long lost. So we’re going to take it.”

Tony smiles at her, and Bruce hugs her and she looks so genuinely happy Tony is sure he never saw her like that before. But then Bruce lays the invite down in front of him, and Tony remembers his question.

„Okay, but I have to ask. Why one invite?”

Natasha just raises an eyebrow, as if it were obvious, and then her expression changes, something mischievous in her gaze as if she’s changed her mind.

„Tony. We may get to be domestic now but we still __are__  international spies and Avengers. We’re not going to invite random people to our wedding. And since none of you has any trusted... well, any, plus ones, we thought you could go as each other’s, right?”

Tony just nodded, a bit confused, and turned his attention back to discussing the wedding, not noticing the pondering look Bruce got.

  1. ****Valentine’s card****



Tony stared at the red envelope as Bruce’s harried footsteps left the lab. He wasn’t quite sure why Bruce was in such a hurry to run away (hopefully to his room and not to India) but the envelope clearly had something to do with it.

He felt like he was in a bizarre movie, and something told him for once, Bruce running away was the most normal thing in the world. He felt like a teenager, his heart beating fast when he gingerly took the envelope.

He tried hard not to think of the date but hey, he was allowed to hope sometimes, right? The envelope was red, it was the 14th and Bruce was beautiful and Tony really wanted it to be true.

Please be Valentine’s card, please be Valentine’s card-- Yay!

Tony took the card out, biting his lip to keep the ridiculous grin under control... or he tried to because the moment he read the card he ended up bursting out laughing, pure joy taking over.

The card had a little drawing of Bruce on it, hair mussed, the yellow shirt he had on when they first rode off into the sunset together.

On the card, in Bruce’s careful scribble, in green ink, it was written: „I’m madly in lab with you.” Tony bit his lip but he couldn’t stop a wide grin, sheer joy like he didn’t feel in a while filling him.

Putting the card back inside, he tucked it into his pocket and stood up, still smiling. He had a future boyfriend to hunt down ~~and kiss silly~~.

  1. ****Hawk?****



Tony is freaked out. Alright, so maybe he doesn’t like to be handed things in general but he’s pretty sure this time it’s actually nothing unusual to not want to take a __real, living hawk__.

„What the hell, Thor?”

Bruce seemed frozen next to him, quiet in his shock, but when Thor happily thrust the hawk at them, he did remember to extend his arm, allowing the (surprisingly gentle and trained... was it magic?) bird to hop onto his forearm.

„Friend Barton informed me it is a customary congratulations gift when people enter a relationship in Midgard. I think he suggested a stuffed animal, but it seemed barbaric.”

„So you got us... a living hawk.”

Bruce frowned at Thor, but he didn’t quite have the heart to explain to the excited god that Clint dragged him into a prank. Tony gathered his wits and grinned at Thor.

„Yes. Yes, that’s totally right, Thor. Thank you sooo much. Now, you know Clint and Nat are getting married. Have you thought about what gift will you give them when the time comes?”

Bruce smiled at the glee of revenge in Tony’s voice and allowed it to happen, focusing on the hawk instead. God, what were they going to do with a domesticated bird of prey?

Well, turned out Tony had an idea for that too.

And when Clint finally came up to observe his victory, it was kind of worth it to see his face when he found Tony playing with the bird they named Clint and calling him the best Clint around.

Yes, Bruce’s life was definitely crazy but he could kind of get used to it being that way.

  1. ****Documents****



When Tony thinks about it, he realizes it happened before. Back in 2012, when he still didn’t know Bruce (back when he was about to find out about Bruce), when he and Pepper were celebrating opening the Tower.

When Coulson came to recruit Tony into saving the world.

But there was a difference, a huge difference between back then and now, between Pepper smoothly taking the files from Phil’s hand and Bruce doing it. It wasn’t the fact that Pepper was dating Phil and Bruce wasn’t. It wasn’t the fact Phil was... kind of a zombie now.

It was the only reason Tony allowed him to get away with even trying to hand him something. Being dead for a week and waking up to find out he was the director of a fallen agency, the man had other things on his mind than Tony’s quirks. Even if Tony knew that unlike back then, now Phil __knew__  and he was just messing with him. Strangely, Tony didn’t mind that much.

So Phil could hand him things. Or try to. Tony still wouldn’t take them, but the attempts didn’t make his skin crawl coming from Coulson.

But that wasn’t the biggest difference between Pepper intercepting the documents and Bruce doing it. No. The difference was that Pepper was standing right next to him, and Bruce wasn’t.

Bruce was, in fact, on the other side of the room, seemingly not paying attention, working on his laptop, when Phil took the file out of his briefcase and tried to hand it to Tony. He stood up from his research then, Tony’s eyes shooting in his direction, watching with awe as Bruce casually jogged in his direction, stepping on the coffee table and the sofa to make a short-cut.

He smiled lightly at Phil, grabbing the file and dropping it on the table in front of Tony, before kissing him on the cheek and going back to his laptop, as if nothing happened.

If Tony wasn’t already head over heels with him, he would have fallen right there and then.

** **+1. Engagement Ring** **

It’s a day like any other, their usual routine. They work side by side, each on their side of the lab (Bruce’s side actually being more of a lab and Tony’s more of a workshop) but still passing each other every now and then, exchanging helpful notes and stolen kisses.

Pepper pops in once with some documents Bruce intercepts and leaves on Tony’s desk for him to sign, and Steve drops by with coffee though Tony isn’t sure when. Bruce tells him that once he takes a sip. It’s cold by then. Sometimes Bruce will also drop a document or a tool by his elbow just when he needs it or asks about it, then near the end of the day, he makes them tea because he insists too much coffee isn’t good for Tony.

(Bruce makes the best tea, so Tony doesn’t mind.)

And then it happens.

Tony grabs his mug, trying to take a sip, only to find it empty, and he frowns unhappily. He hears a chuckle above himself and sees Bruce’s smile and his boyfriend drabs the mug and put the new one, steaming, in its place before leaving.

Tony doesn’t pay much attention to it, or at least not at first. Not until he looks down, ready to grab his mug, and realizes there is something else next to it. A box. Little, square, covered in red fabric. Tony’s breath catches as he grabs the box, thinking whether to open it, but he...

He appreciates what Bruce is trying to do here. But he doesn’t want that. He grabs the box and approaches Bruce on the other side of the lab, thrusting the box into his hands.

“Give it to me.”

“What?”

Bruce looks confused, a bit out of his element, staring at the box as if wondering what is happening or maybe if he got rejected. Tony doesn’t want him to think that. He never wants him to think that.

“I said give it to me. Hand it to me. Properly. You’re the exception. I know you’re the only person who actually respects it but... you’re the exception and I want you to. So... hand it to me.”

And Bruce smiles, realization shining in his eyes with quiet joy, so he just nods, and gets on one knee, there in the middle of the lab, in his white coat, opening the box and extending it to Tony, who’s wearing a grease stained t-shirt.

“Tony Stark. Will you marry me?”

And Tony keeps smiling, like a lovestruck fool that he is, as Bruce takes the ring and puts it on his finger. He doesn’t answer, because he doesn’t have to, and when Bruce stands up, he draws him into a deep kiss.

“You, Bruce Banner, get to hand me anything, anytime, for the rest of our lives.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Science Boyfriends fic and I'm really excited for it, so you know. *wink wink* Comments power the arc reactor.


End file.
